This invention relates to the art of arrangements, devices and methods for protecting flexible cable against damage.
The invention is particularly applicable to a protective boot and method for protecting flexible cable against damage from end portions of relatively rigid helical rods surrounding a portion of the cable. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention has broader applications and uses.
Flexible electrical cable or the like is provided with an outer protective sheath of dielectric material such as flexible plastic or rubber. When making connections, such as splices and end terminations, for these cables, it is common to apply helically coiled, substantially rigid metal rods around a length of the cable for distributing pulling forces over a substantial length of the cable disposed on each side of the splice or adjacent the joint. In arrangements of this type, bending and swaying of the cable, along with winding same on or off of storage drums, and vibrations during use, may cause the relatively sharp end portions of the rods to pierce the protective sheath and damage the cable. This is particularly true in the case of splices where the cable and the rods may be trained around sheaves and other cable handling gear during longitudinal movement of the cable. In such arrangements, the end portions of the rods not only cause damage to the cable, but they also have a tendency to catch on the sheaves or other cable handling equipment.
In arrangements of the type described, it is known to protect the cable by wrapping cloth tape or the like around the cable in the area where the rod end portions will be located. It is also known to wrap the end portions of the rods externally with cloth tape or the like to maintain them in close proximity to the cable outer surface so the rod end portions will not catch on sheaves or other cable handling equipment.
However, the available tapes do not adhere well to the outer surface of cable or rod end portions which may be coated with oil, dirt or other contaminants. In addition, the tape generally lacks the requisite flexibility to withstand repeated bending of the cable. Further, an extremely large number of tape layers would be required to adequately protect the cable sheath against puncture and to hold the end portions of the rods close against the cable sheath during bending of the cable.
It is also known to use metal shims for attempting to protect the cable and the shims themselves frequently cause cable damage. It is also known to use mechanical clamps which are quite expensive and inflexible. It is further known to encapsulate the rod end portions in urethane plastic or the like, and this is very expensive and time consuming.
It has, therefore, been considered desirable to develop a simplified and inexpensive arrangement for protecting a cable against damage by end portions of helical rods applied thereto. At the same time, such an arrangement would hold the rod end portions against the cable during bending to prevent snagging of the end portions on cable handling gear. The subject invention is deemed to advantageously meet these needs and others while overcoming the foregoing problems with known prior art arrangements.